Greg Hinz On Politics

RTA misses budget deadline as CTA, Metra squabble

Right on schedule, negotiations over how to divide up funding among the Chicago area's transit operators have again missed a key deadline and are in danger of breaking down.

The Regional Transportation Authority board canceled a meeting scheduled for today at which it was supposed to make some initial decisions on how to parcel out $1.3 billion in public funds among the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace. The so-called marks are supposed to be set by Sept. 15, with a final 2014 RTA budget legally required by the end of the year.

None of those agencies is publicly commenting. But according to a breakdown of various proposals that the RTA circulated, the parties are at least $100 million apart, with squabbles over both operating subsidies and how to spend bond proceeds. The transit operators can't even agree on how much growth to expect in RTA sales tax revenue or how much to set aside for a fund reserve.

The chart below pretty much summarizes the situation, with Proposal A backed by the CTA, B by Metra, C from the RTA staff and D a possible compromise that was discussed earlier in the week.

One dispute centers on how to divide an expected $100 million capital bond issue, with the CTA pushing for as much as $63 million and Metra arguing that it needs more to repair and upgrade its aging system.

Another difference is whether in 2014 the CTA should be required to begin repaying a $109 million RTA loan it got in 2009. And the agencies are divided over what share of discretionary subsidies the CTA should get and how fast they can be expected to grow.

Look for it all to be worked out somehow in the end after an even bigger fight over whether the CTA is overextending itself with excessive debts. The fight helps explain why Gov. Pat Quinn's transit reform panel is likely to recommend abolishing the RTA and distributing all subsidies — not just some of them — by geographic formula.